COVID-19: Looking At Long COVID | Trainwreck Fallout | Bird-Flu Crossover | Biden Visits Ukraine | California To Host Hearing on Gas Gouging |

Sea Wolf at Soda Bar (Taken 2.18.2023)

Like everyone, I was stunned to hear about the sudden passing of O and every time I think about it or try to write something, I fail. So I have some thoughts, but this post isn't for that. This is just a typical COVID and newsy post, which will transform once again as the data stops coming in next month. It doesn't mean COVID is gone, but the data just isn't going to be collected in the same way moving forward. 

Things have been pretty low key for me. Darren has been working so much lately so I'm just doing my thing. I went to La Jolla Cove to check out the sea lions on Valentine's Day and then we had an amazing dinner at home, and besides my usual, I worked for Bass Drum of Death on Thursday. We had a really great night on Saturday checking out Sea Wolf at Soda Bar, and it was our first time out together in awhile. Those early shows fit great with our current lifestyle and Darren's work schedule so long as my sisters can cover helping out my parents on those nights. So we fit it in when we can. And the rest of the time we're just trying to find some joy and do what we gotta do. 

Stay safe out there.    

• COVID-19:
• COVID-19 Cases Rise, County Urges People to Get Vaccinated, Boosted - County News Center (2.16.23)
• Long COVID Now Looks like a Neurological Disease, Helping Doctors to Focus Treatments. The causes of long COVID, which disables millions, may come together in the brain and nervous system. - Scientific American (2.14.23)
• Diabetes Risk Jumps After Covid Infection, Study Finds—Vaccination Seems To Offer Some Protection - Forbes (2.14.23)
• A clinical case definition for post COVID-19 condition in children and adolescents by expert consensus, 16 February 2023 - WHO
• Politics:
• Vinyl chloride's invisible threat: Thousands of pounds are released every year in the U.S. as part of "poison plastic" manufacturing - CBS News (2.17.23)
• The environmental awakening of Tucker Carlson - Popular.info (2.15.23)
• Train derails in Van Buren Township; Haggerty Road back open - Detroit Free Press (2.16.23)
• Biden visits Kyiv to show solidarity, says "One year later, Ukraine still stands" - kpbs (2.20.23)
• News:
• Advocate ready for California's first hearing on gas gouging - kpbs (2.20.23)
• California gas prices tick up as lawmakers consider penalty on Big Oil’s windfall profits - EWG (Feb 2023)
• Other Reading:
• The Bird Flu Outbreak Has Taken an Ominous Turn. The avian flu has killed millions of chickens, decimated wild birds—and moved into mammals. Now the poultry industry needs new measures to stop its spread. - Wired (2.16.23)
• Bird flu alarm drives world towards once-shunned vaccines - Reuters (2.17.23)
• Government:
• White House
• Remarks by President Biden and President Zelenskyy of Ukraine in Joint Statement
• Memorandum on Delegation of Authority Under Sections 506(a)(1) and 552(c)(2) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961
• On-the-Record Press Call by Senior Administration Officials on President Biden’s Trip to Ukraine
• Statement from President Joe Biden on Travel to Kyiv, Ukraine
• Global COVID-19 Stats (JHU 2.20.2023, 8:21 PM):
• 674,128,721 Known Cases/5,220,502 28-Day New Cases
• 6,863,639 Known Deaths/50,453 28-Day New Deaths
• US COVID-19 Stats 
• JHU
• 103,124,645 Cases/1,124,515 28 Day New Cases
• 1,117,563 Deaths/13,262 28-Day New Deaths
• CDC Data Tracker (Weekly Data as of 2.17.23):
• 259,339 New Cases/102,998,014 Known Cases 
• 2,838 New Deaths/1,113,254 Known Deaths
• 3,571 New Admissions/22,205 Current Hospitalizations
• California COVID-19 Stats (Data as of 2.16.23):
• R-effective: 1.11
• 2,893 Average Daily Cases/11,084,818 Total Cases (7.2 new cases/100k)
• 24 Average Daily Deaths/99,960 Total Deaths (0.1 new deaths/100k)
• 6.4% 7-day test positivity rate
• 2,541 COVID-19 Hospitalizations (+12 patients, +0.5% from prior day)
• 296 COVID-19 ICU hospitalized in CA (+14 patients, +5.0% from prior day)
• 1,732 ICU beds available (+20 from prior day)
• San Diego County 
• State Data:
• R-effective: 1.05
• 271 Average Daily Cases/981,249 Total Cases
• 5.3% Daily Positivity
• 1 Average Daily Deaths/5,759 Total Deaths
• 247 COVID-19 hospitalized patients (+5 patients, +2.1% from prior day)
• 27 COVID-19 ICU hospitalized patients (-3 patients, -10% from prior day)
• 222 ICU beds available (0 from prior day)
• County COVID Data (Data From  2.16.23):
• 1,916 New Cases Since Last Report/981,076 Total Cases 
• Case rate: 7.4 per 100,000 residents overall
• 14 New Deaths Since Last Report/5,759 Total Deaths
• 5.8% Daily Test Positivity
• 277 COVID-19 Hospitalizations. -29% over 30 days
• 30 ICU Patients. +3% over 30 days
• 44 Staffed ICU Beds Available 
• 0 Community Outbreaks (7-day)
• County Influenza Data:
• 59 New Cases Since Last Report/20,869 Known Cases 
• 0 New Deaths Since Last Report/40 Known Deaths